Business schools are always keen to publicise their new research institutes, but do these centres of excellence add anything to the MBA experience?

For students still deciding where to go, research centres provide a good indication of a school’s strengths, as well as its strategic direction. Cass Business School, in London, for example, is in the process of bolstering its reputation via new research centres.

“Several important areas of business, such as private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and professional services, do not have enough academic focus in the UK. The formation of specialised research centres at Cass aims to address this gap,” says Richard Gillingwater, the school’s dean.

Cass has just opened its private equity centre, with more to follow. But just because exciting, cutting-edge research is taking place on campus does not automatically mean MBA students benefit from it. Some schools separate teaching from research; others prefer faculty to do both.

“Students should be exposed to cutting-edge knowledge and to professors who can deliver in terms of research and practice,” says Andrew Burke, the director of the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurial Performance and Economics at Cranfield School of Management. “We have established a research centre that is research, teaching and practice, all rolled into one.”

Nottingham University Business School also believes that faculty research should find its way on to the MBA curriculum. “The centres signal research excellence in a particular area,” says Mike Wright, director of the Centre for Management Buy-out Research at Nottingham.

“We integrate that research into the classroom. I teach a venture capital course on the MBA, feeding in work on private equity and MBOs that we do in the centres. We use our research to write case studies, and students can tap into our unique database of about 25,000 private equity deals for their projects and dissertations.”

Even if the MBA class is exposed to the work coming out of research centres, a glimpse of the school’s celebrated research stars may still prove elusive. “Focus on the programme you are interested in, find out who the course director is, and then check whether that person is research active or not,” advises Burke.

“Check the main research stars that the school is pushing on its website, and see if any of those names crop up on the MBA.”

At some schools, however, the research stars are centre stage. Blue Ocean Strategy, the bestselling business book, was written by Insead academics W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne.

“When people come here they are exposed to this concept and work with faculty participating on the project,” says Antonio Fatas, the dean of the MBA programme. “W. Chan Kim runs an elective on the MBA programme and supervises projects for students.”

At Chicago University’s Graduate School of Business, MBA students who take the economic analysis of major policy issues elective have the opportunity to be taught by Gary S. Becker, the Nobel laureate. “As all of our faculty teach and research, as opposed to some schools where some faculty members only do research, cutting-edge research is brought directly into our classrooms,” says Glenn Sykes, the school’s managing director Europe. “Faculty will often present their research in MBA classrooms just days or weeks after it has been completed. Students at other schools read about it in textbooks a year or two later.”

There may be other more practical benefits of going to a school with strong research centres. They hold events, provide a chance to network, and, if you are lucky, might even help to finance your MBA via a scholarship, or fund your future career.

“Our new Centre for Entrepreneurship, sponsored by Cass alumnus Peter Cullum, founder of the insurance group Towergate Partnership, has experts on hand to advise MBA students,” says Paola Barbarino, the director of development at Cass. “Students can also access funding and put their business plans into action.”

‘Our lecturer was the person who did the research’

When Christie George, decided she wanted to study for an MBA, her interest in social entrepreneurship meant Saïd Business School at Oxford – with its world-renowned Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship – was the obvious choice, writes Steve Coomber.

“I am a strong believer in the importance of research centres,” says George. “They make a postgraduate programme, such as an MBA, more academically rigorous.”

Students get a first-hand look at what is happening in SBS’s research centres, notes George.

“Today, for example, I had a class where we could learn about and critique the latest research on fair trade,” she says.

“It was delivered by the person actually doing the research. Being able to learn from people doing independent research, ask them questions directly and have them challenge your assumptions, is an incredible opportunity.”

A big advantage of research centres is that they provide a focus for industry-related events. The Skoll Centre is no exception, hosting the annual World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, allowing MBA students to mix with leading experts and practitioners in the field.

“The energy was electric; you are sitting in an auditorium listening to a presentation, with Nobel laureates on both sides of you and another on the stage,” says George.

“Those experiences do not come around very often.”

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